British aid worker is murdered in Hungary

A British man was murdered and his wife seriously injured when they were attacked by robbers during a trip to Eastern Europe to deliver aid and supplies.

Michael Trevor Pollard, 62, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, and his wife, Sovalleare, were set upon after stopping their car in a lay-by in a Hungarian town.

The attackers, who confessed to carrying out the assault after being arrested, stole about pounds 50 from the couple, the Foreign Office said yesterday.

Mr Pollard died as a result of his injuries, and his wife, 55, suffered a broken jaw and nose as well as facial and chest injuries. She was in intensive care last night and is due to be operated on today.

A local report said the couple's car broke down in the town of Nyiregyhaza, about 150 miles north-east of Budapest, while they were returning to Romania.

Mr Pollard, who was a pastor at the Emmanuel Evangelical Church in Baildon, West Yorkshire, and his wife were taking privately collected aid supplies to Christians in eastern Europe, as they have been doing for the last 19 years, when they were attacked. They were about 10 days into their four-week trip.

The couple's daughters, Rebecca, 24, and Tamar, 20, and their son Andrew, 18, were said to be "devastated" by the news and too upset to comment.

The couple were in Prague, in the former Czechoslovakia, in 1968 when the Russian tanks rolled in and were so moved by the experience they had made annual visits to various eastern European countries ever since.

A neighbour of the Pollards, Angela Vicarman, said: "They were a lovely couple, they were married for about 30 years. I don't know how she will face the future without Michael, they were so close."

Kate Watson-Smyth